American Bison - Buffalo Field Campaign

Alaska Department of Fish and Game and USFWS are
developing a special rule that will designate wood bison in
Alaska as a nonessential experimental population (NEP) under
section 10(j) of the U.S. Endangered Species Act, which lists
wood bison as endangered. The federal rule will remove
many of the regulatory requirements that normally apply to
endangered species, allowing a high degree of management
flexibility and providing protection against possible regulatory
burdens and effects on other land uses. NEP status will
help maintain and enhance public support for wood bison
restoration. An alternative proposal to delist bison from the
ESA is being considered, which would obviate concerns by
the oil and gas sector about impacts of a new listed species
on development opportunities. Wood bison in Alaska will be
legally classified as wildlife and, after populations reach levels
that can support a sustainable harvest, their numbers will be
regulated in part through a hunting programme as outlined in
cooperative management plans that will be developed for each
area prior to each reintroduction.
8.5.5.2 Canada
There have been several Canadian national park proposals and
public discussions to include plains bison in their native species
management plans. These include management plans for
Banff, Waterton, and Grasslands national parks in Alberta and
Saskatchewan (Boyd 2003; see also Chapter 7). Waterton park
determined that there was insufficient landscape available for
free-ranging bison within the park. Prince Albert and Grasslands
national parks already have established plains bison herds.
82 American Bison: Status Survey and Conservation Guidelines 2010
Bison in these herds are classified as federally managed wildlife
and could be allowed to expand their range if coordinated
management agreements can be negotiated with public and
private landowners bordering these parks.
Canada has several large military reserves with suitable bison
habitat. Restoration on military preserves is being discussed, but
few detailed plans are currently available. Bison are protected
on Department of National Defence Cold Lake/Primrose Air
Weapons Range by virtue of prohibiting trespass, except for
the Cold Lake First Nations, who can hunt with permission.
Canadian Forces Base (CBF) Suffield is a 2,600 km 2 military
reserve located in the Dry Mixed Grass Natural Sub-region
of Alberta. It is used as a training area for military ground
manoeuvres and it is a mostly intact native prairie landscape.
CFB-Suffield has free-ranging populations of all indigenous large
herbivores, except bison, for which the biological potential for
restoration is highly favourable.
Canada’s National Wood Bison Recovery Team was formed
in 1973 and includes members from all relevant federal,
provincial, and territorial governments, as well as academia.
The draft national recovery strategy (H. Reynolds, personal
communication, 1 March 2009) provides the following
population and distribution objectives: 1) establish and
maintain at least five genetically diverse populations of greater
than 1,000 animals in each herd, 2) establish and maintain
smaller free-ranging, disease-free herds where possible, and
3) establish and maintain at least two populations in each
originally occupied ecological region.